Japan is a nation of conformity and routine. There are strict rules for every social interaction one makes and things are they way they are because that's how they've been since the beginning of time. Or whatever.
In the endless list of rules that are rules only because they are rules, everyone gets paid two bonuses every year in June/July and December. I was told this might also be partially attributed to those pesky conniving yakuza*, but I am not Jake Adelstein so I really wouldn't know.
Since everyone gets a little extra in their paychecks around this time of year, EVERYTHING GOES ON SALE! EVERYWHERE! FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH OF JULY! YAY!
7 Days Bargain at the original Shibuya 109 has since ended,
but the shops usually keep sales going even without official advertising.
One of the other 109s.
Of course, the one thing I bought for myself today wasn't on sale but I did get a Christmas present taken care of at 50% off! THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT.
Things I Won't Miss About Japan #11: Not Finding Pants in My Size
I was not given the petite little hips that so many Japanese women have. I have wide child-bearing hips and a large bottom, which means I will never find shorts or pants that fit me in this country.
I'm not even that big! I'm a size six in American brands, but that's like XXL in Japanese brands. The only bottoms I've bought here were skirts or very loose shorts, like my super awesome ice cream cone ones from LDS that I totally cannot get away with back home.
Bought the sweater after it got cold.
My outfit was cute until then!
My outfit was cute until then!
I'll be perfectly honest that I'd give up being able to find nice shorts if it meant Shibuya 109 could still be a 45 minute train ride away from me in three weeks. UGH.
*According to a salaryman friend of mine, 30-40 years ago the yaks were really into corporate racketeering. The Japanese fiscal calendar runs from April until March and many companies have shareholder meetings in June. Yaks would show up, disrupt the meetings or threaten people, and demand some sort of payment to go away. Companies started holding these meetings all on the exact same day in June to make the yaks spread themselves thin and cut down on the costs for everyone.
No one gets paid bonuses until after the companies crunch all their numbers from the previous fiscal year and present their profits or losses at these meetings. Though the yaks no longer engage in such tactics (they're probably running the meetings anyway), it's something that's still done in Japanese business. According to my salaryman friend who, again, is not an expert on this in any way.
lol. i went to
ReplyDelete109 for like 5 seconds on monday and it was the last day of the bargain sale and it was INSANITY. went to Lumine Est the day before and i was actually scared, i'd never seen craziness like that. lol.
aaah, i'm also very disappointed that finding pants here is a statistical improbability, but i'm much bigger than you and so your post made me sad and kinda crashed all my dieting dreams. to think that if i could ever manage to shrink down to a size six wouldn't even be good enough....T_T
I can fit skirts from the cool stores~ but most of the time the shorts don't wanna come up past my upper thighs. They're honestly like kid sizes!!! I know I have bigger hips and a larger behind than Japanese women but geez.
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